Got up late today, so only had time to go into central San Fran and look around before going on our 1pm Alcatraz trip.We passed the Boudin Bakery and noticed the items in the window, bread baked into shapes like a huge alligator and lobster etc - very cool.We went to Johnny Rockets for an early lunch - a 50s style diner. Great food and great service.

We caught the 12-minute boat ride to Alcatraz - over US$100 for all of us, and had to pass through the obligatory photo scene in front of a backdrop. $22 for two identical photos...what a rip. You can't buy one for $11 of course. Unimpressed was I (but we still got them!)

Anyway, Alcatraz was fantastic - you could really get a feel for what it was like there, and the cells are so much smaller when you see them in the flesh, than in photos - they are tiny

.We did the 'free' audio tour, which was well worth it and got locked into one of the solitary confinement cells by a park ranger, and it was so dark you could see how you could go crazy after a week or two in total darkness. Funnily enough the same ranger that locked you in cell 13 (for only 30 seconds) was the guard from the Escape From Alcatraz movie who locked Clint Eastwood in the same cell on the island.

By the time we got back from Alcatraz (with the fog still blocking our view - but it is San Francisco, famous for its fog after all) we were all knackered, so back to the hotel for some R&R.